Entanglement
by Melancholia Avaritia
Summary: In which the situation is complicated, intricate beyond imagination. Or the one where Kakashi is an over-protective father-figure. Kakashi-Naruko, Father-Daughter.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

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**Imbroglio**

**Warnings: Mentions vague abuse/child abuse/read-into-it-whatever-you-will. Language. Abusive character yet to be revealed. Sympathetic Kurama. Fear of men/maybe other people.**

**Imbroglio: An altercation or complicated situation.**

There are no hands on her skin now but she feels them running over her veins and they paint icy trails. They are real and the hot water ran out hours ago and her skin is blistered and-

She sits under the icy water and she stares-

She stares into nothing and she can forget as she scrubs a meticulously clean arm mindlessly.

There are still fingers running up her veins and crawling through her heart and out her mouth-

It is only cold and dark and fear and ice left in her veins.

She stands, or attempts to at first. She is blistered and burned, raw skin red and twisting as she wrenches herself upward. She swallows back the physical pain-

because really, the physical means very little. The agony is in the emptiness of her room and her world-

There is only her. Here in an room with so much time but never enough to satisfy. No-one to fill the empty hours and cold nights, no reply when she says 'Hello?' She should stop saying it already, cause there has never been an answer. But it's one of her last hopes, that one day a voice will answer her, to rescue her from this world.

But there is no such person to do this.

There is never anyone here.

There is just her and the monster who visits her.

He's always been there, with his gold eyes and sharp smile. He was not human but he looks like one, with his proud features she has come to hate. But no monster could ever be human, though she learns the truth later.

It was nice, at first. There was someone to greet in the morning, ask how she slept. But the monster knows how she slept, because in her dreams he was there. As she screamed and writhed, tearing her skin and crying out.

She learns to distrust the monster, even though he looks like her. He is not. He is nothing like her, with his sharp smile and greedy golden eyes.

She always feels his hands, the icy trails that she can't burn away. The red-blistered skin will heal soon enough but the icy trails burn still.

It's the monster that doesn't look like her that she trusts. She is quite sure she's passed her mental limits by now, as she seeks the solace of her own mind and the soft embrace that will meet her.

He's the fox, apparently. A monster through and through. But though he is a monster, he is more human than the man with sharp teeth will ever be.

The shower eventually runs out of water to spill over her and she is left shivering, even as she retreats into her mind, into the depths of her forest mind-scape. He's there, with his soft voice and rumbling purr that lulls her into a peaceful state.

There is nothing the ancient one can do. He's trapped in here and he hates the Fourth Hokage more than ever, though not for sealing him from his freedom.

He can only watch through her eyes, every minuscule agony runs through him and every word that tears her into pieces.

And he can do nothing, as the man with black hair destroys everything that was ever pure in this girl. But she is pure in here, safe and protected.

He has to let her go now, let her slip into reality and let her sleep upon her bed, and he will do what little he can for the nightmares that will follow.

But she never falls asleep, as the door is opened. But not in the usual slow manner, of a creeping dark malice back to dirty what he can. No, she watches as a man sticks his head in and his mismatched eyes focus on her.

No, no. She doesn't want to be looked at. He looks like the human-monster, though his mouth is covered, set in a sad line. The monster never did that. The monster grinned and snarled, even as he hurt her.

The man with the not-monster smile steps forward and she can only scramble to get away from the man with strange eyes. But he comes forward and she only whimpers as his hands pick her up, stiff as a board in fright. But the skin contact is gone, as her blanket is wrapped around her after he pauses.

This isn't how it goes. The human-monster never did this and she doesn't know where to go from here. It's a new thing, like the man with the strange hat who had once said 'sorry' to her a long time ago. He had been sad and angry,in his eyes but his face had been...emotionless, that was the word!

What did that face mean? The man with strange eyes has it set deep into his face. Perhaps he is like the not-monster, the one with soft fur and kind eyes? His eyes are strange but they are kind, like Kurama-nii's eyes.

AaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAaAa

Hatake Kakashi had no idea what to expect out this mission but this was not it.

It was not a simple mission but neither did he expect the extent of what was before his eyes. Each room was another roomful of horrors, child after child after child. This was Lab #6, one of Orochimaru's most important labs according to the information T&amp;I had gotten out of the ANBU traitors they had captured days ago. An experiment facility to test one thing only: the effects of mental and physical trauma on young subjects. Children.

Even Kakashi, renowned for being staunch in the face of brutality, had paled when face with the sheer madness heaped on these children. Terrible, terrible things that made war look like something from a children's story. Mental trauma, subjecting children to the most horrific images via genjutsu. And they did it again, day after day. The physical trauma that extended so deep, that several children they had attempted to help had screamed when the door had barely squeaked open.

He had almost given up hope by then, knowing the child he had come to find would most likely have never made it out of here. But in the final room, there at the end of the corridor, is where he found her.

There was terror in her eyes, far beyond anything he has ever seen or known before. Some terrible, heart wrenching grief exists in the eyes of this girl. His sensei's child. And he has failed all over again, for this is his fault.

He hadn't done enough. Had not watched closely enough, blinked away as a small little girl was stolen from the house he guarded.

She whimpered under his touch and he had to staunch the flow of anger that pooled, magma hot and roaring, into his stomach and blind himself to the images that had been presented to him during his briefing. She is stiff, immovable and her eyes are piercing his gaze with the emptiness within them, as he gently cradles her into his arms. She is still whimpering but it stops when he gently wraps her in the thin blanket, even as he keenly feels the bones of her back against his arms.

She is so small and he turns sharply, heading down the corridor and past the ANBU as they salvage what little sanity these children have left, guiding them out into the night.

Kakashi cannot fix this and he doesn't believe that even the best medic could do it either. Time could perhaps, with love and compassion and patience.

And by the Gods, Kakashi will try his hardest.

The thought of letting another care for her never even crosses his mind. No one could give her what he can.

She is as good as his own child, his responsibility now and he will fix this.

He doesn't think he will let anyone near her for a long time.

A wolf has a protective streak a mile wide after all.

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It has been a long time since Sarutobi Hiruzen felt young but in this moment, he is ancient and every years is like the weight of the world across his shoulders.

Two broken children are in his office, as Kakashi landed on the windowsill seconds ago and reeled off the information of the night. He thinks it over, even as tears trail from the corners of his eyes as he thinks of how wrong he has gone with his once favourite student.

"Kakashi, she will need-"

He is taken aback at the pure fiery determination in the eyes of this young man. He had grown far from the cold child he had once been and the protectiveness in his eyes was the same as his mentor's- a father's protectiveness.

"I will look after her."

There is something in the set his eyes, the tightness that it sends to Hiruzen's chest and he is suddenly way too old for this.

"Okay, Kakashi. You can take her, report tomorrow. I'll have the mission pay and a fund for taking care of her into your account tomorrow first thing."

Kakashi sags and the sleeping child in his arms is curling into his chest as he does so and he unconsciously tightens his arms around her. His child now.

He barely makes it to his apartment before she twists suddenly in her sleep but then curls into him, as if seeking the warmth at his heart. It's panicked but he cannot miss the thrum that goes through his heart at the movement. He curls around her, keeping her close to the steady beat of his heart and they sleep there, a family only that night but it will be an uphill battle.

One he is determined to win.

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**Okay, so this was originally a prompt but I have decided it could work well as a story as well~**


	2. Chapter 2

**All these thoughts are courtesy of one of my friends, who consented to share her daily thoughts about going through something like this and she has given me position to use them here. Love to you Souris~**

**Mordace: ****biting, mordant, scathing, poignant, cutting.**

**Chapter 2~**

There is sensation and there is feeling and there is such an overload of everything she has never known and it is painful to such a degree, to know what she has missed on.

Fear still runs through her though,

This world is new, open and the darkness of the room is no more but outside the roof… the _sky _glows with a multitude of lights and they have names and she cannot remember them. She cannot remember what these beautiful things are and that is sad in and of itself that such beautiful things are things she cannot name.

She is drifting in and out of awareness, as her brain struggles to comprehend what is happening. Is this something new? Meant to give her hope and joy and send her crashing down into the darkest depths when she is delivered into the arms of her greatest enemy once again.

But she isn't. The not-monster man, with his sad eyes that are different and his scarred face has brought her some place new. And she's terrified. Because what if he was lying, with those sad eyes and kind smile? If he's like the man with the greedy golden eyes, but worse, because he has made her trust him and she is so very young and how can she ever change this?

But he doesn't touch her, as she clings to him with desperation fuelled by the desire to _know_. She wants to know why. Why did he come searching for her, of all the children she knew had been in that place? She wants to know how his heart beats. How he lives, how she lives, how they _all _live in this world. She wants to know how the man with white hair, young and frail but cruel, had made her pain disappear. But she also wants to know why he did that, if only for the monster with greedy eyes had made the pain and the blood come back once again.

How did his hands glow green, like the colour of the grass she read about in a little book? How did his hands glow that colour and make her red disappear? Was it because they were different colours? She didn't know. How could she know? But she swore to find out, to figure it out. Because one day, she was going to be like the healer man. But she was going to be better. So much better than him. She would heal them-

And never would they be hurt again.

She drifts to sleep, as the sheer feeling of an embrace surrounds her and it's… strange, for in that moment there is no fear.

And that is terrifying.

AaAaAaAaaAaAaAaA

Kakashi withdraws from ANBU that very morning.

It's a sudden decision, from the young and upcoming captain but for those in the know, who can blame him?

His eyes are red and swollen, hush red from withheld tears and it is visible, the pure control and enormous strength he exerts to keep those feelings in.

Three ANBU drop out that morning, Kakashi is the last of them. Their minds are too damaged, to have glimpsed for even a moment, the terror in the eyes of children so young. And how can Hiruzen blame them, his own eyes tired and dull under the heavy shadowed weight of his hat, when he himself has felt the urge to give up.

But there is fire, in the eyes of his most prospective captain but it is not the fire to protect his village. Kakashi will fight to save what is precious to him and it seems, in the midst of the turmoil of the night, the young orphaned man has found a kindred spirit.

A gnarled, old hand with the callouses of many years, hands over the release papers with a soft glance and there is knowing in those eyes.

Kakashi ducks his head as he receives the papers, hiding from the knowledge in those old eyes and if anyone sees the tears fall as he leaves, they say nothing.

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She had awoken that morning with a scream, twisting in his arms and fighting for freedom, her eyes wildly moving beneath her eyelids and he could only hold her tight, stilling her movement until her eyes snapped open. He had hoped for an improvement but instead, she turned to rock, tensed and alert and he let her go, drawing back.

She was so young… so, so, so _frightfully _young. How could anyone destroy this beautiful creature, attempt to dirty the purity he could see _shining _from her skin?

But her eyes-

That same Mediterranean ocean blue, deep and beautiful and knowing but these eyes know too much, far too much for their age. He has not seen their like since her father's death but even in five years, the beauty of those eyes has not dulled in his memories and-

This is it.

He could not save her mother.

He could not save her father.

But by the Gods, he will save this girl and it will be the only right and good thing he will do-

But at least he will have done this.

He stretches out a hand and holds it there, waiting and watching as she tenses. She curls further back, eyes wide in a thin face and her mouth drawn tight. And he hurts deep within him.

Naru relaxes then, after endless moments of eternity. Her eyes never waver from his hand, outstretched in the space between them but she is less terrified… More cautious and he thinks it would be an improvement, if it did not still hurt even more. Her mouth twitches, just the smallest section but it's enough.

A tiny hand, so small and so fragile and thin beyond thin. It's almost like she's smiling, welcoming him and perhaps, despite all her brokenness, she can see his own.

She gently touches his hand and then jumps back, eyes trained on his face, searching for some hint of anger there. But he just watches her, his mask around his neck and a gentle smile playing along his lips. And so she reaches forward again.

A smooth finger taps his hand; then again it taps on the underside of his palm. He shifts his hand, palm up and restrains his inner pain as she flinches-

But she doesn't draw back. She flinches but returns to studying his hand, his callouses and the scars and the bumps and the still healing wounds. She places her hand in his and she seems startled by the tiny size of her hand against his. But their hands are similar, with a funny little bump on the little pinky finger and she seems to notice it.

With wide blue eyes and there is a shattering hope within, she turns and speaks for the first time since he has seen her, voice rough from disuse but soft and sweet with childhood. Just a single word and Kakashi, in that moment, is both in heaven and hell.

"Papa?"


End file.
